Marry Me
by Jamy-Peraltiago
Summary: Jess is having a hard time dealing with the fact that she quit her job and Nick is there to comfort her. Things escalate and they find themselves wondering what their relationship is.
It had been a week since Jess quit her job and she still had no new prospects. She didn't regret leaving her job. Her boss was taking advantage of her niceness and she refused to be a doormat, to let someone walk all over her. She did however, wish that she at least had something lined up before she quit. With each passing day of rejection, she grew more and more frustrated and was less and less motivated to continue her search for a new job.

And, so that is how she found herself drinking, alone, at 4pm on a Thursday, crying as she watched _Dirty Dancing_.

"Yo, Jess…" Jess peered over at the door to see who had just arrived home. She saw Nick with a box of pizza from the place down the street that the gang always went to and a large black plastic bag that she assumed was from the liquor store. "No luck with the job search?"

Jess shook her head and held up the bottle of white wine she was drinking. She had abandoned the glass and was just drinking straight from the bottle at this point.

"I thought you might need this," Nick said as he placed the pizza on the coffee table and pulled two large bottles of wine and a bottle of whiskey out from the black bag.

"I don't drink that," Jess stated as she pointed at the whiskey.

"I know, it's for me. I need something to drink while I keep you company."

Jess smiled at Nick as he took a seat next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. Jess wiped her tears and placed her head on his shoulder. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't have to," Nick comforted her. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Isn't this what you watch when you go through a bad break-up?"

"It feels like a bad break-up. I loved that job. Well, I loved it before the new principal came."

Jess felt Nick nod against her head and she wrapped her arms around his waist. They sat in silence as the movie continued to play, eating the pizza and occasionally taking a sip of their drinks, Nick more often than Jess. When the movie ended, Jess immediately pressed play again. She was grateful that Nick didn't say anything; he just continued to drink. By the time the second running of the movie ended, Jess was feeling pretty drunk. She reached for her phone that had gotten shoved between the cushions and saw that it was almost 7 o'clock.

"Where…where are…Shmeceton… Schm…Ceeeee… those people that live with us?" she slurred, wincing as Nick laughed.

"Schmidt and Cece are up in Napa for a 'pre-honeymoon' – whatever that is. And Winston is working the night shift. It's just us tonight, kid."

"The whole loft to ourselves? What should we do?"

"We should drink a shit ton more, play True American (Duel), watch _Dirty Dancing_ just one more time, have a good cry, then have sex."

Jess stared at Nick. "This is, without a doubt, the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in," she deadpanned.

Jess watched as Nick's face went from amusement to shock in seconds. "I…I…wasn't being…I mean…we're not…I wasn't serious…?" he stammered.

"I am." Jess stared at Nick, keeping a straight face. She watched as he looked confused, then impressed, then confused again. Jess walked away, towards the fridge where she pulled out a six pack of Coors Light. She walked back into the living room, where Nick was still standing, dumbfounded, and grabbed Nick's bottle of whiskey, now about ¾ full. She carried both to the dining room table, placing the whiskey in the center and the cans of beer in a circle around it. She walked to the head of the table and climbed up onto the chair. "You playing?"

Nick nodded and walked to the table, climbing up onto the chair across from Jess.

"It's Duels – Hamilton vs. Burr," Jess stated, not skipping a beat. "Ready? One, two three…JFK!"

"FDR!" Nick yelled out.

Jess reached across the table for a beer and quickly jumped from the table to the couch, just beating Nick by mere seconds.

"Shotgun," Nick called out. Nick pulled out his keys from his pocket and cut open his beer while Jess frantically searched for something sharp to open up her beer. As she observed Nick shot gunning his beer, she gave up and opened up the tab.

"Cheater!" Nick pointed an accusatory finger at Jess as he flung his empty can over his shoulder. He poked Jess in the side which made her spill some beer as she flinched.

"You're the cheater, you…you…you cheater," Jess accused as she playfully shoved Nick's chest. "You called shot…shotgun knowing I…I don't…I can't…"

"You're drunk," Nick laughed.

"Nope," Jess stated, taking a step closer to Nick. She grabbed ahold of his upper left arm as she steadied herself.

"Yup," Nick replied as he held onto Jess's waist, taking a step closer to her.

"No," Jess whispered, moving closer to Nick so that they were now just inches apart.

"Jess…"

Before he could say anything else, Jess moved forward, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. She took half a step back, looking him in the face. Nick stared back. After a beat, he moved forward, cupping her face in both his hands, kissing her. Jess slid her hand from his arm to the back of his neck, her other hand swinging around him so that both arms were now wrapped around him. Nick slid his arms down and grasped at her waist, reaching around to hold onto her tightly. Nick stepped down from the couch and Jess wrapped her legs around his waist. He grabbed onto her ass and carried her to his bedroom.

Once his knees hit the foot of the bed, he gently laid her down. Jess slid backwards, resting on Nick's pillows. She bit her lip and nodded her head, gesturing for Nick to join her. She looked into his eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt and crawled over her. He hovered over her.

"I still love you, Jess."

"I still love you, too," Jess replied, grabbing Nick's face and kissing him more passionately than she had ever kissed anyone. Slowly, they undressed each other. Nick paused, silently asking permission. Jess kissed him softly on the check, wordlessly giving him permission to make love to her.

Jess awoke the next morning to the sun shining in through the open window, embraced in Nick's arms, her face smashed pleasantly into his chest. She inhaled and was greeted by the smells of soap, whiskey and Nick that she had missed so much. She placed soft kisses on his chest, being careful not to wake him. She smiled, remembering how much she missed being here with Nick, alone, just the two of them, in love.

"Morning."

Jess looked up and saw that Nick was starting to wake up. His eyes were still closed but he was smiling. She had laid here with him enough times to know that he was waking up happy.

"Nick…" she started.

"Not yet," he responded.

Jess took a deep breath and closed her eyes, grasping onto Nick tighter. He reciprocated the gesture, pulling her in tighter, kissing her softly on the top of her head.

They laid there in comfortable silence for several minutes.

"Nick…we should really talk about this…"

Nick inhaled sharply. "Yeah, you're right."

Nick let go of Jess and sat up. Jess sat up, facing Nick so that they could talk, face to face. They looked at each other, both unwilling to break the awkward silence. Nick rubbed his head, moving his hand down to his beard and to his neck, stopping as he covered his heart. Jess tilted her head to the side as she took him in.

"We said some pretty heavy things last night," Jess said, recalling the confessions they had made the previous night. "Or, at least, one pretty heavy thing."

Jess waited patiently for Nick to acknowledge their confessions.

He took a deep breath before stating, "Yeah, I meant it."

Jess was stunned. "You mean…you still…"

"Yeah, I still love you," Nick confessed. "And I know that you love me too. I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice. That's a look of love on your face."

"Nick…" Jess stopped, unsure of what to say. Panicked, she crawled out of bed, snatching up her clothes, dashing off to her room.

"Jess!" Nick called after her, but she slammed her door, reluctant to continue the conversation after his declaration. She heard him making his way to her room and she grabbed her desk chair, shoving it against the door, ensuring that he would be unable to barge in on her. She backed up, hearing him slam into her door, confirming that that she had been successful in her attempt to lock him out. "Jess, come out..."

Jess ignored Nick though, throwing herself onto her bed, burying her head underneath her pillows, drowning out the sounds of Nick's pleas.

She laid there for a while, eventually falling back asleep. When she woke back up an hour later, the loft was quiet. Figuring it was safe to leave her room, Jess cautiously removed her chair from in front of the door and opened up her bedroom door. She stepped out, barely taking a step before stumbling over the legs of her loft mate.

"Damn it Nick," she shrieked.

"Sorry Jess."

Jess continued onto the kitchen.

"Jess, you wanted to talk about this. You can't just ignore me."

Jess listened to Nick, not responding as she rummaged through the cabinets for some tea. She found a box of green tea and grabbed it. She slid over to the stove, turning on the burner that housed the kettle full of water. She pulled a mug down from the cabinet and threw the tea bag in the mug.

"Jess, I love you. We're not going to ignore this," Nick continued. "Especially since you told me you love me too."

Jess took a deep breath. "Yeah, I love you. But, so what? We're not compatible, romantically."

"Why would you say that?"

Jess rolled her eyes and stared at Nick. "Seriously? Don't you remember the last time we dated?" She paused, waiting for his reaction, a reaction that never came as he just stared back at her. "We want different things; we believe different things. It's not going to work."

"That was two years ago Jess, we're different people now."

"You think two years will make that much of a difference?"

"I know it will Jess." Nick stopped talking. They stared at each other, silently, eventually interrupted by the whistling of the kettle. Jess turned off the stove, pouring the boiling water into the mug with the tea bag. She poured in some honey, stirring her drink, before taking out the tea bag.

Jess held onto her tea tightly, waiting for Nick to say something.

"Marry me." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement. It came as a huge shock to Jess, who dropped her mug, breaking it into a hundred pieces, the tea spilling everywhere. "Jess…"

Jess slowly backed up, reaching behind her for something steady to hold onto. She gripped the counter and held on tight. Nick swiftly moved to clean up the mess. He snatched the roll of paper towels from the counter and ripped off a large strip to soak up the tea.

"Fuck," he exclaimed. He stood up and Jess noticed blood seeping out of his palm. A sharp piece of the broken mug had snagged Nick's palm and he was now oozing blood out of his hand. She hastily enclosed her hand around his wrist, careful not to hurt him anymore, and dragged him to the bathroom. She led him to the bench, forcing him to sit down, and hunted through everyone's things, desperate to find some bandages. She found some and speedily, yet caringly, tended to his wounds.

"I'm serious Jess," he whispered as Jess took care of him. "I want to marry you."

Jess continued to care for him in silence. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Nick…"

She looked him in the eyes and saw a sincere expression on his face. Jess realized that she was still holding onto the hand she had just bandaged up. She looked down as Nick placed his unharmed hand on top of hers. She looked back up and saw that Nick's faces was mere inches from her own. She leaned in closer and he took advantage of the opportunity to kiss her. She didn't stop him; she felt comforted by his affection. Slowly, she pulled away.

"I want to say yes, Nick, I really do, but…"

"But you have concerns," Nick finished for her. She saw the heartbreak in his eyes as he let go and began to walk away from her.

She rushed after him, grabbing ahold of his arm as she spun him around to look at her. "But, I'm scared. I love you so much, but things ended horribly last time."

"It won't this time," he said.

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

"Because, in two years, I have matured. I have dumped women who didn't take my ambition seriously. I took a step towards maturity as I bought the bar and have learned responsibility managing my business. And, most importantly, in the past two years, I have come to the realization that I would do anything for you. And, I'm sorry that it took two years, but I know that you're the only one for me."

Jess looked at Nick and saw the sincerity in his eyes. His confession warmed her heart.

"Look, I'm not saying we get married right away," he continued. "We can move slowly, just start dating again, but knowing that this is serious this time."

Jess took a step forward, engulfing Nick in a hug. "Yes," she said. "Let's start dating again."

"Really?!" Nick asked, elation spreading across his face.

Jess nodded and laughed. Nick picked her up, carrying her back to his room to celebrate their relationship.


End file.
